We've been eager for this one: the new release of estate wines from Australia's Place of Changing Winds.

It's a stunning project, with perhaps the highest density Pinot Noir plantings we've ever seen and truly, some of the best Pinot Noir we've enjoyed from anywhere. Below we retell the story because frankly – it's an important one in the world of wine.

And we have a couple ways for you to experience it this month: via the newest drop below, and an incredibly delicious bottling of Syrah that we're exclusively offering in this month's wine club. If you want to drink the best of Australia's newest wave...this is the month to do it.

Robert Walters was originally Australia's importer for some of the world's top domains (Selosse, Graillot, Egly to name a few) for 20 years, before setting out to start his own highly ambitious estate. It took five years of searching for the right land until he settled on a unique piece of land.

Tucked into an ampitheater at the foot of Mount Macedon and isolated among forests at 500m elevation, Walters and his partner Kate Millard began their work. Though they have 33 hectares of land, they settled on planting just 3 hecares to vines back in 2012.

Their stunning site was historically known as Warekilla, a word meaning “Place of Changing Winds” in the local Wurunjeri language

Only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were planted; but the estate still has impressive variety, with 9 different clones and multiple rootstocks (including own-rooted) in pursuit of the most successful combination. And importantly: dedicating only one tenth of their land to vineyards has enabled some of the highest density vineyards in the entire country.

It follows a philosophy that we've seen echoed across the icons of Côte de Nuits: that high density planting creates competition among vines, forcing roots to push past their topsoil and reach into the mother rock for nutrients and water.

In the Macedeon Ranges, this allows the vines to reach beyond the (400-million-year-old!) gravel and into a deep, rare type of eroded basalt called mugearite. And the result is lower yields of small, high quality grape clusters that have a remarkable skin-to-juice ratio: concentrated, powerful fruit.

The numbers are intense, and unique: as a reference point, where Burgundy may see dense plantings at 10-20K vines per hectare, the range at Walters' estate varies from 12-33K vines per hectare – for a total of 45K vines planted.

High density plantings, where their rocky (and challenging) soil is worked entirely by hand; pruning with the Poussard method, a la Burgundy

The vines are also pruned with a method focused on combating wood disease (called Poussard, photo above and there's a nice video on the Prieuré Roch site here). The vines sit within arms length of each other and walking distance to the winery itself; they do not see any chemicals and can only be hand harvested. Raised almost exclusively in thick-staved stockinger, they radiate with fresh fruit and their forested surroundings.

It's ambitious, uncompromising work that applies methods from the world's most sought-after producers to a completely unique place. The result: intensely flavored wines, with incredible length and energy, that sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Grand Cru Burgundy.

The lineup is divided into three sets:

➨ Estate bottlings, of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
➨ Tradition wines, blended from estate fruit and neighboring organic vineyards
➨ Grower Series of négoce bottlings from neighboring organic vineyards

Estate Wines:

2023 Place of Changing Winds 'Larderdark' Chardonnay, Macedon Ranges, Australia $165
100% estate Chardonnay

2023 Place of Changing Winds 'Between Two Mountains' Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges, Australia $140
100% estate Pinot Noir, from their highest density vines

Tradition Wines:

2022 Place of Changing Winds 'Tradition' Red, Macedon Ranges, Australia $80
60% Syrah from neighboring vineyards, 40% estate Pinot Noir

2022 Place of Changing Winds 'Tradition' White, Macedon Ranges, Australia $80
1/3 Chardonnay and 2/3 Marsanne

Grower Series:

2023 Place of Changing Winds 'Harcourt' Marsanne Roussanne, Macedon Ranges, Australia $54
A blend of Marsanne and Roussanne from neighboring vineyards

2021 Place of Changing Winds 'Heathcote' Syrah, Mount Camel Ranges, Australia $50
Powerful Syrah from neighboring vineyards, with extended aging